F1/GP2 Manager - 2007 Season - American GP -F1 Race Page 34!
Posted by F1_Manager
F1 Qualifying
Q1
With the field so tight after Free Practice you had the feeling that one or two of the midfeidl runners were looking over their shoulders going into qualifying, and those they saw looking back certainly weren't left disappointed. The first big scalp of todays qualifying came in the form of Fernando Alonso's exit as the Spaniard ran wide on his first run, before an electrical failure prevented him from improving on his team, meaning Alonso will start 22nd in tomorrow's race.
This gave the backmarkers a chance of freedom from the Q1 gullotine that for much of the session seemed to be swaying Sebastian Vettel's way, but improved efforts from the two Honda's and his team mate Webber, left Vettel once again out of qualifying in Q1. Vettel was joined on the sidelines with Verstappen, Glock, Fisichella, Villeneuve and of course Alonso.
Alonso after his qualifying woes
Q2
It was anyone's guess of who would make it into the pole position shoot-out and the fact that six separate teams made the cut proved dividends to that. Of those eliminated, the most surprising would have to be tied championship leader Andre Lotterer who could only manage 12th and would have to watch his far less experienced team mate Sutil fight for pole. On a brighter note Mark Webber did not waste his chance in Q2, missing out on a Q3 spot by less than a tenth of a second as the Aussie took 13th behind Da Matta in 11th and Lotterer in 12th. Behind Webber will lineup the second Renault of Michael Schumacher and the two Hondas in 15th and 16th with a good showing from Lewis Hamilton which saw him out qualifying his team mate Davidson by a very small margin.
Da Matta's failed attempt to make the cut
Q3
In Q3 the drama continued as Kimi Raikkonen continued his domination of todays qualifying - after the Finn toped both Q1 and Q2 - to take McLaren's first pole of the season. Felipe Massa came close however, just missing out by half and tenth, with Kubica and Ralf Schumacher lining up 4th. Meanwhile Nick Heidfeld seems much more comfortable in the car after his Q1 dismissial in Malaysia to line up 5th ahead of Montoya. Barrichello will again line up 7th just as he did last weekend with the former world champ ahead of Sutil, Trulli who had a fine session to outqualify the tenacious Da Matta, with Coulthard taking 10th.
Raikkonen's successful pole lap
That's all the action for today, join us tomorrow for the GP2 Sprint Race, before the F1 cars retake to the track for the Bahrain GP!
Q1
With the field so tight after Free Practice you had the feeling that one or two of the midfeidl runners were looking over their shoulders going into qualifying, and those they saw looking back certainly weren't left disappointed. The first big scalp of todays qualifying came in the form of Fernando Alonso's exit as the Spaniard ran wide on his first run, before an electrical failure prevented him from improving on his team, meaning Alonso will start 22nd in tomorrow's race.
This gave the backmarkers a chance of freedom from the Q1 gullotine that for much of the session seemed to be swaying Sebastian Vettel's way, but improved efforts from the two Honda's and his team mate Webber, left Vettel once again out of qualifying in Q1. Vettel was joined on the sidelines with Verstappen, Glock, Fisichella, Villeneuve and of course Alonso.
Alonso after his qualifying woes
Q2
It was anyone's guess of who would make it into the pole position shoot-out and the fact that six separate teams made the cut proved dividends to that. Of those eliminated, the most surprising would have to be tied championship leader Andre Lotterer who could only manage 12th and would have to watch his far less experienced team mate Sutil fight for pole. On a brighter note Mark Webber did not waste his chance in Q2, missing out on a Q3 spot by less than a tenth of a second as the Aussie took 13th behind Da Matta in 11th and Lotterer in 12th. Behind Webber will lineup the second Renault of Michael Schumacher and the two Hondas in 15th and 16th with a good showing from Lewis Hamilton which saw him out qualifying his team mate Davidson by a very small margin.
Da Matta's failed attempt to make the cut
Q3
In Q3 the drama continued as Kimi Raikkonen continued his domination of todays qualifying - after the Finn toped both Q1 and Q2 - to take McLaren's first pole of the season. Felipe Massa came close however, just missing out by half and tenth, with Kubica and Ralf Schumacher lining up 4th. Meanwhile Nick Heidfeld seems much more comfortable in the car after his Q1 dismissial in Malaysia to line up 5th ahead of Montoya. Barrichello will again line up 7th just as he did last weekend with the former world champ ahead of Sutil, Trulli who had a fine session to outqualify the tenacious Da Matta, with Coulthard taking 10th.
Raikkonen's successful pole lap
That's all the action for today, join us tomorrow for the GP2 Sprint Race, before the F1 cars retake to the track for the Bahrain GP!
Very good start to the weekend with 1 and 2 in FP, qualifying we hoped to achieve the same result but it seems McLaren made a huge jump forward! It's going to be a tough race out here in the heat of Bahrain.
If you are racing, keep on racing and get some points!
GPG Super League S11 | Driver #41 | Team-manager | Snake Motorsports Racing Group | Next Race: Emmeloord - Flevoland GP | Constructors: 10th | Best Race Finish: 1st
GPG Super League Season 9 Testers Champion*
GPG Super League S11 | Driver #41 | Team-manager | Snake Motorsports Racing Group | Next Race: Emmeloord - Flevoland GP | Constructors: 10th | Best Race Finish: 1st
GPG Super League Season 9 Testers Champion*
Ugh 
GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager
GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager
Red Bull
Now that looks a bit better than in free practice. Hopefully Mark can snatch the first points of the season from 13th. It has to be our aim, though, to bring both cars into Q2 rather sooner than later.
GPGSL : Team Owner of 'Maverick Track Performance' (MTP)
Now that looks a bit better than in free practice. Hopefully Mark can snatch the first points of the season from 13th. It has to be our aim, though, to bring both cars into Q2 rather sooner than later.
GPGSL : Team Owner of 'Maverick Track Performance' (MTP)
Danielsson Redeems Himself with Sprint Race Victory
Alx Danielsson has righted his Bahrain woes to ensure he didn't leave for Spain empty handed after taking the victory in the Sprint Race in Sakhir. The Dane, who after a lowly qualifying and pointless race in yesterdays Feature Race came through from 2nd on the grid to take 6 points on Sunday morning.
Off the start it was Adam Carroll who lead the field through turn 1 from pole whilst behind him relative chaos insued after Dan Wheldon, who made a great start from 12th, spun fighting over 7th place with Albers, dropping the Brit back down to 16th and forcing many drivers to take avoiding action. The drama did not end there for Albers either as the Dutchman tried to relieve Piquet of 7th, only to fail and defend from Parente to hide.
A lap later Villa, continuing his strong form this weekend, easily dispatched Nakajima to move up into 6th with a good overtake into turn 4 whilst his DAMS team mate Pantano set the fastest lap of the race as he moved up to 3rd at the expense of Bruno Senna. Back with Albers however it was clear that Piquet was starting to hold Albers up but another failed overtake from Albers gave Parente the chance he needed as he moved up to 9th, only to retire two laps later with a puncture.
Back with the battle for the lead Danielsson was beginning to catch Carroll with the gap down to 0.7 seconds by lap 6 and by the end of lap 7 it was the Dane who was in the lead with a 1.2 second gap for himself, which he did not look back on for the remainder of the race.
Luckily there was action elsewhere as Rossi pulled off a clever overtake on team mate Conway for 10th at turn 8 before Chandhok punted of the Brit a lap later to drop him to 14th, whilst Pantano's charge came to an end after he spun on his own whilst chasing down Carroll for 2nd, dropping him to 21st.
Across the line it was Danielsson who took a relatively comfortable victory, Adam Carroll who hung onto an important podium for Trident with Senna completing the podium. Then behind Bruno was Villa, Maldonado, Nakajima, Albers, Piquet, Rossi and finally Conway in 10th.
Alx Danielsson has righted his Bahrain woes to ensure he didn't leave for Spain empty handed after taking the victory in the Sprint Race in Sakhir. The Dane, who after a lowly qualifying and pointless race in yesterdays Feature Race came through from 2nd on the grid to take 6 points on Sunday morning.
Off the start it was Adam Carroll who lead the field through turn 1 from pole whilst behind him relative chaos insued after Dan Wheldon, who made a great start from 12th, spun fighting over 7th place with Albers, dropping the Brit back down to 16th and forcing many drivers to take avoiding action. The drama did not end there for Albers either as the Dutchman tried to relieve Piquet of 7th, only to fail and defend from Parente to hide.
A lap later Villa, continuing his strong form this weekend, easily dispatched Nakajima to move up into 6th with a good overtake into turn 4 whilst his DAMS team mate Pantano set the fastest lap of the race as he moved up to 3rd at the expense of Bruno Senna. Back with Albers however it was clear that Piquet was starting to hold Albers up but another failed overtake from Albers gave Parente the chance he needed as he moved up to 9th, only to retire two laps later with a puncture.
Back with the battle for the lead Danielsson was beginning to catch Carroll with the gap down to 0.7 seconds by lap 6 and by the end of lap 7 it was the Dane who was in the lead with a 1.2 second gap for himself, which he did not look back on for the remainder of the race.
Luckily there was action elsewhere as Rossi pulled off a clever overtake on team mate Conway for 10th at turn 8 before Chandhok punted of the Brit a lap later to drop him to 14th, whilst Pantano's charge came to an end after he spun on his own whilst chasing down Carroll for 2nd, dropping him to 21st.
Across the line it was Danielsson who took a relatively comfortable victory, Adam Carroll who hung onto an important podium for Trident with Senna completing the podium. Then behind Bruno was Villa, Maldonado, Nakajima, Albers, Piquet, Rossi and finally Conway in 10th.
Awful, pointless weekend in every sense
GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager
GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager
Schumacher Takes Comeback Win in Bahrain
Ralf Schumacher has made amends for his non-start in Malaysia by taking a close victory in the Sakhir desert as Mclaren through away an easy victory through inept tactics after a strong start. Off the line Kubica made a great start to jump Massa and make it an early McLaren 1-2, whilst further back Trulli and Villeneuve came together which saw both take to the pits at the end of lap 1.
However at the front it became clear Raikkonen was severely holding up his team mate with Kubica easily able to stay within half a second of his team mate all the way around the lap which, combined with numerous failed overtake attempts from Robert, allowed both Ferrari's to stay in touch, at least until Massa spun from 3rd place to drop to 5th behind Montoya and Ralf.
Lap 6 saw quite a bit of drama as firstly both Super Aguri's came together fighting over 19th and 20th, whilst Coulthard's race came unwound as he was forced to pit with an electrical issue from 8th place, promoting Heidfeld back into the points, after a slow start, behind Barrichello in 7th and Cristiano Da Matta in 6th. Things then got worse for Coulthard as the Scot spun on cold tyres on his out lap dropping him to dead last until his day brightened slightly as he passed Villeneuve for 21st after the Canadian's race came to an end thanks to a lap 11 engine failure.
Coulthard after his early race excursion
Back at the front the top three drivers were trading fastest laps with Kubica still stuck behind Kimi, with Ralf another 3 seconds down the road whilst Heidfeld had overtaken his team mate for 7th, just as the first round of stops started on lap 15. As Kubica received his call to the pits his luck suddenly started to turn as Kimi ran wide at turn 4 to give his team mate the lead, allowing Kubica to build a 1 second lead before pitting a lap later with Montoya. However it wouldn't help him as Kimi rejoined in 7th - 0.7 seconds ahead - but it certainly helped Ralf whose later stop get him the net lead after the stops and the overall lead on lap 22 as Da Matta and Michael Schumacher headed for the pits. After the first round of the stops it was Ralf in the lead ahead of Raikkonen, Kubica, Da Matta, Massa, Montoya, Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.
Thus began the mid race action drought as Kubica was still all over the gearbox of his team mate but was unable to pass, whilst Kimi was unable to gain on Ralf ahead. However further back Timo Glock gave us a brief respite when his brakes failed on lap 24.
Thankfully lap 36 marked the start of the second round of stops with Kubica and Da Matta making early stops, a move which would not work out for either as Da Matta was jumped by Massa and the Ferrari man pitted and rejoined a lap later, whilst Kimi rejoined well ahead of his team mate when the Finn pitted on lap 39. A lap later Ralf was also in along with Montoya with the German retaking his net lead of the race, whilst JP coming out behind Montoya.
Once everyone had pitted the view at the front had changed little. Ralf still led from Kimi but the Finn now had a much more comfortable lead over his team mate in 3rd. Felipe Massa was back into 4th with Da Matta 5th, Montoya 6th, Barrichello 7th and Michael Schumacher 8th as Fisichella pitted from 8th himself. However Barrichello's day was about to come crashing down as a water leak denied him back to back points, and he was soon joined by his former team mate Michael Schumacher whose engine failed with 10 to go. The mechanical gremlins however were not done there, as with one last blow took Da Matta out of the race on lap 53 as his brakes also failed.
Michael Schumacher retiring for the second race in a row
From there on though it was plain sailing from the flag with Ralf Schumacher taking his first win of the season, Kimi Raikkonen in 2nd and Robert Kubica, who will no doubt believe he could have - and arguably should have - won this race with ease, in 3rd. Massa was 4th, Montoya 5th, Lotterer - the first benefitter of the numerous late retirees in 6th, Davidson 7th and Heidfeld 8th. Hamilton missed out on his debut points in 9th, Sutil came home 10th ahead of Fisichella. The two Red Bulls were a second apart and 12th and 13th with Vettel leading home Webber, whilst Alonso could only recover to 14th. Trulli enjoyed a miserable day as he came home 15th just ahead of Verstappen in the last Super Aguri, whilst Coulthard was the final driver to cross the line.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2014 02:22AM by F1_Manager.
Ralf Schumacher has made amends for his non-start in Malaysia by taking a close victory in the Sakhir desert as Mclaren through away an easy victory through inept tactics after a strong start. Off the line Kubica made a great start to jump Massa and make it an early McLaren 1-2, whilst further back Trulli and Villeneuve came together which saw both take to the pits at the end of lap 1.
However at the front it became clear Raikkonen was severely holding up his team mate with Kubica easily able to stay within half a second of his team mate all the way around the lap which, combined with numerous failed overtake attempts from Robert, allowed both Ferrari's to stay in touch, at least until Massa spun from 3rd place to drop to 5th behind Montoya and Ralf.
Lap 6 saw quite a bit of drama as firstly both Super Aguri's came together fighting over 19th and 20th, whilst Coulthard's race came unwound as he was forced to pit with an electrical issue from 8th place, promoting Heidfeld back into the points, after a slow start, behind Barrichello in 7th and Cristiano Da Matta in 6th. Things then got worse for Coulthard as the Scot spun on cold tyres on his out lap dropping him to dead last until his day brightened slightly as he passed Villeneuve for 21st after the Canadian's race came to an end thanks to a lap 11 engine failure.
Coulthard after his early race excursion
Back at the front the top three drivers were trading fastest laps with Kubica still stuck behind Kimi, with Ralf another 3 seconds down the road whilst Heidfeld had overtaken his team mate for 7th, just as the first round of stops started on lap 15. As Kubica received his call to the pits his luck suddenly started to turn as Kimi ran wide at turn 4 to give his team mate the lead, allowing Kubica to build a 1 second lead before pitting a lap later with Montoya. However it wouldn't help him as Kimi rejoined in 7th - 0.7 seconds ahead - but it certainly helped Ralf whose later stop get him the net lead after the stops and the overall lead on lap 22 as Da Matta and Michael Schumacher headed for the pits. After the first round of the stops it was Ralf in the lead ahead of Raikkonen, Kubica, Da Matta, Massa, Montoya, Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.
Thus began the mid race action drought as Kubica was still all over the gearbox of his team mate but was unable to pass, whilst Kimi was unable to gain on Ralf ahead. However further back Timo Glock gave us a brief respite when his brakes failed on lap 24.
Thankfully lap 36 marked the start of the second round of stops with Kubica and Da Matta making early stops, a move which would not work out for either as Da Matta was jumped by Massa and the Ferrari man pitted and rejoined a lap later, whilst Kimi rejoined well ahead of his team mate when the Finn pitted on lap 39. A lap later Ralf was also in along with Montoya with the German retaking his net lead of the race, whilst JP coming out behind Montoya.
Once everyone had pitted the view at the front had changed little. Ralf still led from Kimi but the Finn now had a much more comfortable lead over his team mate in 3rd. Felipe Massa was back into 4th with Da Matta 5th, Montoya 6th, Barrichello 7th and Michael Schumacher 8th as Fisichella pitted from 8th himself. However Barrichello's day was about to come crashing down as a water leak denied him back to back points, and he was soon joined by his former team mate Michael Schumacher whose engine failed with 10 to go. The mechanical gremlins however were not done there, as with one last blow took Da Matta out of the race on lap 53 as his brakes also failed.
Michael Schumacher retiring for the second race in a row
From there on though it was plain sailing from the flag with Ralf Schumacher taking his first win of the season, Kimi Raikkonen in 2nd and Robert Kubica, who will no doubt believe he could have - and arguably should have - won this race with ease, in 3rd. Massa was 4th, Montoya 5th, Lotterer - the first benefitter of the numerous late retirees in 6th, Davidson 7th and Heidfeld 8th. Hamilton missed out on his debut points in 9th, Sutil came home 10th ahead of Fisichella. The two Red Bulls were a second apart and 12th and 13th with Vettel leading home Webber, whilst Alonso could only recover to 14th. Trulli enjoyed a miserable day as he came home 15th just ahead of Verstappen in the last Super Aguri, whilst Coulthard was the final driver to cross the line.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2014 02:22AM by F1_Manager.
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